Brandon Coleman vs Louisville, Virginia Tech & Cincy

July 6th, 2013 | Written by Rob Staton

This is the guy.

In fact, he was the guy last year too. There was talk that Brandon Coleman would declare but he opted to spend another year at Rutgers. The quarterback situation won’t help him (in that he doesn’t have a very good one throwing the ball) but he has the opportunity to be a top-25 pick. And if he drops beyond that, I hope the Seahawks are ready to pounce. Coleman was definitely in man-crush territory last season.

He’s not the finished article, far from it. But with a big 6-6 frame, speed and good habits catching the ball he’s as close to the perfect receiver project you’ll ever find.

It’s one of the few things Seattle still needs. At receiver they have dynamism, speed and playmaking excellence. But they don’t have a great possession receiver with size and height to compliment Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin, Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin. They’ll be hoping Chris Harper can fill the void, but that’s a tough ask for a fourth round rookie competing for catches with that group. Put Coleman alongside Harvin and Rice and I think you could be looking at the perfect complimentary trio for Russell Wilson. It’s still way too early to say, but I think we’ll be spending a fair amount of time on tight ends and big receivers this year. Mike Evans is another player to keep an eye on at Texas A&M, plus of course the two TE’s Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Colt Lyerla.

If Coleman, Seferian-Jenkins, or Lyeria fall to (hopefully) the 32nd pick, well that’s just not fair.

And was I the only one who thought that saying the “quarterback situation won’t help him” is an understatement? There were some terrible throws there. I love this kid though. I was looking at scouting reports for WRs coming out next year, and this one just sprang out for me. He’s the ideal receiver in my opinion, big, strong, fast, good hands (did you see that catch versus Syracuse?!), and not too bad at avoiding the tacklers either.

This kid is intriguing, but it is really hard to see just how good he is because his QB is so brutal. The QB is throwing the ball all over the place it’s pathetic. With that being said Coleman did drop a few catches that he should be making. Nonetheless, a guy to watch this season! Cannot wait for football season to get here. Can’t wait! Go Hawks!

One thing I notice is the change of direction, or lack thereof. The guy seems pretty fast once he gets going, but I don’t see that quickness necessary to run a lot of routes effectively. The go route, and the drag route seem to be his favorites. Something where he can just outrun a player, or at least get a step on them and use his big frame to get the ball. That’s probably the best way for an NFL team to use him as well.

The hands were hit and miss, but I saw enough hits to not worry about the passes he dropped, they were usually inaccurately thrown, and catching all of them would have put him in DeAndre Hopkins level territory for hands. Shows good strength and balance after the catch, was pretty adept at breaking tackles.

I’d love to see the Seahawks grab him in the first round, he reminds me of a fast Mike Williams. I’m still undecided on which position would be best, the Z or the X. I don’t know if he has the explosiveness for the X, but I think he needs a little better route running to play the Z.

Snap, Rob, could not agree more. Carroll wants size esp outside looking at players to fill this role since he arrived aka Mike Williams, Terrell Owens, and Braylon Edwards. They don’t grow on trees so you better be prepared to take a chance on one when available

I’m a huge fan of this guy. He is a lot more elusive than people give him credit for, considering that he is 6’6. I’d be genuinely surprised if he was available at 25 though. There’s some exciting pass catchers available in the next draft. I’m a huge fan of both Lyerla and ASJ too.

Given the well acknowledged need and well evidenced search Carroll has made for size at WR, any surprise that the Hawks didn’t take a late round flyer or UDFA swipe at Mark Harrison, Marcus Davis, Marquess Wilson, Mallete, Kaufman, even Da’Rick Rogers? I found it a bit surprising.

I was never a huge fan of Hunter. I think he has a legit shot to be an excellent receiver, but he’s also the kind of guy you’re happy to congratulate another team over for making it work. Hunter was patchy. I think Coleman will be hard to compare because of the QB/offense at Rutgers, but physically I much prefer him.

Thanks for the opinion, Rob. I know a few draft guys were really high on Hunter. I was impressed with his leaping ability and athleticism at his height. But I see his shortcomings, too.

Any thoughts on the Hawks passing on so many relatively low cost big WRs like the ones I listed above? I was surprised to see them not take a swing at at least one of them. I guess they really didn’t like what they saw.

I think ultimately they felt Chris Harper was the best bet for what they were looking for. And I can see that. He’s not really tall but he’s thick with great body control. I don’t think he’ll ever be an explosive player but he might be a guy they can rely on for a handful of plays next year. Then they would need to decide whether to upgrade or not, to find a more explosive alternative.

Yeah. I’m pretty optimistic about Harper as a possession type WR down the road. He fits their offensive identity so well.

But given their somewhat desperate search for a tall WR over the years (various reclamation projects), I was really shocked they didn’t find a spot for Mark Harrison or Marcus Davis or the troubled Da’Rick Rogers or Marquess Wilson (who seem like the epitome of a talented but troubled buy-cheap guys). It sure will be interesting to see if some of those guys pan out.

I look forward to your analysis of a few of the big WRs in next year’s class. Mike Evans, Jordan Mathews, and Cody Hoffman all look like really nice 6’3″+ prospects, in addition to Coleman.

He’s got the big and the fast thing down pat (straight line at least). Haven’t seen anything to suggest he’s got natural receiver skills though. Mediocre hands at best, poor change of direction, too long of a stride, etc.

Agree with an earlier poster that horrible QB play makes it tough to get a great feel though.

Coleman’s a really nice player, and in a just universe he will be a top 10 pick next May. He’s the rare player like say, DeAndre Hopkins, that looks better on game film than he does even in highlight packages. He makes big plays, no doubt, but his game was a lot more refined than I was expecting. He does a lot of little things really well and had a good attention to detail.

His rate numbers last season were silly good, while playing for Rutgers and their nobody QB. He deserves to go top 10, but I could see him slipping just a bit since he doesn’t fit the cookie cutter mold at WR and scouts tend to foolishly downgrade terrific football players just because they are a tad different. If they don’t have their heads screwed on straight with regards to Coleman, that could play in our favor.

“He deserves to go top 10, but I could see him slipping just a bit since he doesn’t fit the cookie cutter mold at WR and scouts tend to foolishly downgrade terrific football players just because they are a tad different. If they don’t have their heads screwed on straight with regards to Coleman, that could play in our favor.”

I could see this as well. I’d say it could be even more likely, if Lee and Watkins both declare. They are much more attractive ‘groupthink’ prospects who could start a slide for Coleman.

There are always guys that slip in the draft. I’m not a strong follower of other teams’ fan draft boards so I can’t make a definitive remark — but I do think Seattle fans enjoy a much richer local flavor to their draft discussion. And as a result, we kind of deviate from the pack overall on prospects we think other teams should covet too. Of the few I do follow, there doesn’t seem to be near the excitement or expectation that Coleman or Sutton are worthy of early consideration. There are plenty who give Sutton a late day 3 grade.

Outside of here, Coleman appears to be around the 4th to 5th rated WR prospect heading into the season. It’s pretty routine to see Watkins/Lee battling for the top rating and Mike Evans firmly as the third. Obviously that will shift, but additional prospects will emerge too. Coleman could easily be seen as a top 10 worthy prospect here but not the top WR on the first three teams to take a WR.

I would submit however, that if he does start to slide, we might see Seattle aggressively pursue him. He does certainly appear to be an irresistible fit for us. It would be important to try to create a QB/ #1 WR combo that can be developed for a good stretch of years.

I think the salary cap either cuts Sidney Rice out, or Golden Tate- depending on their season…
This guy is a good Rice replacement, with Chris Harper growing in his second year…

We would probably have to trade up to get him, but if they see him through their “unique goggles” as a team fit, look for the possible 2nd trade up to get him… Otherwise they don’t see him that way and pass… He could possibly replace Rice for half the cost…!

I’d be shocked if the part with Rice AND Tate in one off season. That’s a lot of turnover in the passing game for a young QB.

In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they parted with a number of other players (Breno, McQ, Mike Rob- that’s a likely Tate contract right there), and kept their WR corp intact through Russel’s first contract.

I’d love to get him in the draft.. but we can’t assume we’ll be able to “trade up for him.” His ceiling is ridiculously high. I’m guessing his low is a Dwayne Bowe prospect and his high is Calvin Johnson-esque.

This year’s draft was unique. Next year’s could be loaded with early round talent. It might be a pretty penny to get into the top-10 picks, which, Coleman will almost certainly be picked in. And furthermore, we just traded a mid round pick for Harvin…. Schneider is known for stockpiling picks and the Seahawks are expected to make it into the playoffs… I guess I’m just a pessimist today but I just don’t see any way we get him.

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